Since She's Been Gone
by rosengoose
Summary: Quinn comes home from college and discovers that a lot has changed since she's been gone. Why has Rachel given up her dreams? How will Quinn react when she finds out the truth? Eventual Faberry.


A/N: Hello! Thank you for reading. This first chapter is centered around Quinn, but they all aren't going to be that way. I feel that I should warn you that there will be the mention of a minor character's death. It won't be anything graphic, though. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters.

For the first time in years Quinn was happy with the direction her life was going. After graduating Salutatorian, just behind Rachel who just barely beat her out for Valedictorian, Quinn began attending Boston University. She was studying pre-law. She had an amazing roommate. The overwhelming sadness that plagued her was finally gone. She was finally on the right track.

When she left for Boston, it wasn't just about getting an education. Quinn desperately wanted to forget everything that happened over the last three years. She wanted to leave the pain, hurt, and confusion behind her. To accomplish that, she thought she had to leave the people in her life behind as well.

However, over the last couple of months she realized that had been a mistake. She didn't want a new life without her friends; she wanted a new life with them. She wanted them to meet the girl she'd become. That was the only reason she opted to return to Lima for the summer instead of spending it on a beach in Florida with her roommate. She only hoped that they would forgive her for losing contact with them over the last nine months or so.

Quinn let out a small sigh as she took a photograph of her and her roommate out of the suitcase and placed it on the bedside table with all of her other pictures. She picked up one of the older ones and smiled. It was of her, Rachel, Santana, and Brittany taken during the summer before their senior year. Once she and Rachel both realized they deserved better than Finn Hudson, they discovered how many common interests they shared and became fast friends. This led to Brittany befriending Rachel, and Santana reluctantly tolerating Rachel's presence during their girls nights.

"Quinnie" Judy called up the stairs. "I'm going to my weekly Bible study. Help yourself to anything in the fridge for dinner."

"Okay!" Quinn yelled back. She was relieved that her mother wouldn't be home. Judy was one person she definitely wasn't ready to show her brand new self to. Despite her father being gone, Judy and Quinn failed to grow closer. They exchanged emails every couple of weeks and spoke on the phone on birthdays and major holidays, but that was the extent of their relationship. They were both certain that what they had when Quinn was younger had been broken beyond repair. This was a sad reality that Quinn had learned to accept.

After she finished unpacking, Quinn felt a familiar rumbling in her stomach. The food served during the train ride home had been less than appetizing, and she'd chosen not to eat the grey mystery meat and lumpy, half frozen potatoes. She licked her lips and her mouth watered as she thought of her mother's bacon wrapped green beans. She got up and headed downstairs towards the kitchen, hoping that her mother had actually made her favorite dish to celebrate her homecoming, even though she knew she was just setting herself up for disappointment.

Once she opened the refrigerator, Quinn's hopes were dashed. The shelves were full of nothing but pureed fruits and vegetables. Judy was obviously taking part in yet another fad diet. Quinn knew she shouldn't have expected her mother to actually prepare for her visit, but she couldn't help but be a little bit disappointed.

After realizing that dwelling on her mother's negligence wouldn't put a stop to the rumbling in her stomach, Quinn grabbed her wallet headed out the door, thankful that the Pick 'n Save was within walking distance from her house. As she walked she thought about the rest of the glee kids. She knew some of them stayed in Lima and that some of them left, hoping to achieve all of their dreams.

Rachel Berry was one of the ones that had left, and Quinn smiled as she thought about how happy Rachel probably was in New York. While they were there for Nationals during both their junior and senior years it was obvious that was where Rachel belonged. Quinn would never forget the look of pure joy and happiness Rachel had on her face the day she was accepted into Juilliard.

After walking into the Pick 'n Save, the air conditioning was a welcome relief from the mid-June heat. Her first stop was the pork aisle. She smiled as she put enough bacon in her basket to satisfy her cravings for a least a week. Next, Quinn headed to the produce section, hoping the healthy food would cancel out the bacon. She was carefully examining a mango when she saw a familiar face out of the corner of her eye.

"Santana?"

Santana glanced up from the apples when she heard her name. Her expression hardened when she saw Quinn standing in front of her. "What the hell are you doing here?"

Quinn, taken aback by her former friend's hostility, furrowed her brow. "I'm home for the summer." She'd expected everyone to be upset with her for not maintaining contact, but she didn't expect Santana to be this upset.

Santana rolled her eyes when she saw how confused Quinn looked. "Please tell me you didn't expect me to drop all of my shit and run into your arms?"

"I understand why you're upset. I just needed-"

Santana cut Quinn off before she could finish. "To concentrate on your studies. Yeah we heard. As special as I feel that you have taken time out of your busy life to have a chat with me, I've got places to be."

This is the reaction Quinn expected Rachel to have, due to her tendency to be a little overdramatic. But this type of reaction coming from Santana completely shocked her. She glanced down at the items Santana was struggling to hold and Quinn's eyes widened when she saw a package of diapers tucked under her friend's arms.

Once again, Santana rolled her eyes when she saw Quinn staring at the diapers with a look of shock and confusion that rivaled Finn Hudson's signature stare. "Don't even try to act like you're surprised. You were supposed to be her friend. You knew she needed you, but you were too damn selfish to even try to help her. I get that school is important to you, but she had dreams too. Dreams she gave up and you couldn't even be bothered to call? You couldn't be bothered to check on her? I mean damn Q, I thought I knew you better than that. But all of this made me realize that I don't know you at all anymore"

Quinn stared wide eyed at her former best friend, trying to process what she was saying. She wanted to say something, anything to defend herself. Or question who the diapers were for and who gave up their dreams, because Santana definitely wouldn't speak of herself in the third person, but she wasn't able to get anything out before Santana began to speak again.

"I don't have time for this," she said with an exasperated sigh. "Enjoy your new life, Quinn."

With that, Santana practically stomped off towards the checkout lines, leaving Quinn standing in a daze of confusion. She set her basket down in the middle of the produce aisle, her hunger completely forgotten, and headed towards the exit.

As she walked with no particular destination in mind, Quinn did her best to piece together the information she had. Someone, who wasn't Santana, had a baby. Was it Brittany? She was the one person Santana cared about more than herself. The only person Quinn could imagine Santana getting so riled up over. Even if Brittany somehow did manage to have a child during the time Quinn had been away, she still couldn't figure out why Santana was so mad at her. It's not like she knew about the situation and chose to ignore it.

Quinn wasn't sure how long she'd been walking when she realized she was on Jameson St., the street Rachel lived on. If there was one person in Lima who would give her a straight answer, she knew it would be Rachel Berry. That girl never beat around the bush.

She rang the doorbell and smiled when Rachel's father Leroy came to the door.

"Hello, Mr. Berry, is Rachel here?" she asked.

"No, she isn't," Leroy said. Quinn picked up on the slight agitation in his voice. She'd gotten to know the Berry's quite well during her senior year, so needless to say she was quite surprised that he seemed to be treating her with the same hostility Santana had.

"Oh. Well, do you know when she'll be home?"

"Quinn, Rachel doesn't live here anymore." Leroy glanced over his shoulder as Hiram, Rachel's other father, came up behind him. "Quinn Fabray is here."

Hiram raised his eyebrows and glanced at Quinn over his glasses. "Well, this is quite the surprise." Quinn could also hear a hint of agitation in his voice, but he at least had the courtesy to fake a smile for her.

"I was just looking for Rachel," Quinn said quietly. She glanced down at the ground, realizing that it had probably been a mistake to come here.

Seeing the confusion and hurt on Quinn's face, Hiram shared a quick glance with Leroy, whose face softened after the silent communication. "Rachel no longer lives here, but Leroy and I would be more than happy to give you her address if you'd like."

Quinn nodded eagerly. "So she's still in New York? Is she not coming home for the summer?"

"Honey, Rachel hasn't lived in New York since October," Leroy said as Hiram jotted Rachel's address down on a notepad before handing it to Quinn. "It's nice to see that you're back in town. I hope that you're able to repair your friendship with Rachel, I know you meant a lot to her."

"I...I don't understand. Rachel loves New York. Living there has been her dream since she could talk. She wouldn't just come home. It doesn't make sense. None of this makes sense." Clearly, a lot had happened while she was in Boston. Her stomach twisted into knots as she thought about how freeing it felt when she changed her phone number and got a new email address. While she was busy changing her life for the better, it seemed as if her friends' lives were falling apart. And she hadn't been there to help them.

"I'm sorry, Quinn, but it's not our place to tell you what's been going on," Hiram said softly. "If Rachel wants to discuss the changes that have occurred in her life with you, she will. Like I said, it was lovely to see you again."

Quinn glanced down at the piece of paper after the Berrys shut the door. She only grew more confused when she saw that Rachel was living in a small town on the outskirts of Lima. Why wasn't Rachel in New York? Was she the one with the baby? Who was the father? Finn? God, the thought made Quinn's stomach churn. Rachel deserved more than Finn could ever offer her.

Determined to get to the bottom of the craziness she'd returned home to, Quinn headed back towards her house, hoping that the key to the spare car was still hanging by the door. She had to see Rachel. She had to know what was going on.


End file.
